Age of Xavier
by Furio999
Summary: In an alternate universe, Xavier and Magneto have switched ideologies. Xavier & his X-Men have long since conquered and enslaved the human race, while Magneto and his Brotherhood resistance have gone into hiding. Now a crisis surfaces. Magneto must pull together his rag-tag group of rebels to stop the unbeatable X-Men and get to the god-like Xavier before all of Earth is doomed.
1. Chapter 1: Crisis

**AGE OF XAVIER**

**CHAPTER 1: CRISIS**

**Chicago Illinois. New Years Eve. 2016.**

The streets are buzzing with activity in Daley Plaza underneath the towering rusted out Picasso. Mutants of every size, shape, and description hover in the sky, slither on the ground, or stumble around looking for fights. They drink and level buildings with their concussion blasts. They fly through the upper floors of the Willis Tower and down into lower Wacker Drive. It's a night for celebration.

The submissive humans limp along like zombies, serving drinks and picking up after the mutants. They get on their hands and knees by the hundreds and scrub up the urine and vomit that floods the streets. They walk for miles to bring food from desired restaurants, and get murdered for their trouble. A mutant named Forest Fire sees a human feebly picking up trash in the middle of Washington Blvd, and stumbles towards him.

"Hey Human! Need some help?" mocks Forest Fire.

"No sir. I serve at your pleasure and convenience."

Forest Fire stands over the human. "No no no, cleaning all that shit's gonna take forever. I aint got that kinda time. Lemme help ya out."

Forest Fire stares into the lowly human's vacant eyes until he spontaneously bursts into flames along with the trash. He runs shrieking and flailing as the mutants gather in small groups, laughing along the way until he throws himself into the river, which is met with a raucous cheer.

The humans slump along unaware. They live only to serve the mutants. They know only servitude. They cannot feel excitement or fear. They do not know happiness or misery. They know only to serve and drool.

A commotion stirs near the south wall of the Daley Center, as a bright screen flashes on, taking up the whole side of the twenty story building. On the screen appears Dr. Henry McCoy aka The Beast. The crowd goes wild.

"Good evening, and a very Happy New Year to you all. My mutant brothers and sisters, tonight is a very special night indeed. even beyond the changing of the calendar year. Tonight as you well know, marks the tenth anniversary of our ultimate triumph over the the human race." The crowd lets out a thunderous cheer as Beast continues, " It is my great hope that we all remember on this splendid evening, the sacrifices made by our grand and glorious leader. The man who brought us out from the darkness. The man who made us proud to call ourselves mutants, and to see humans as nothing more than an inevitable casualty of evolution. And as our society thrives and blossoms, it is of the utmost importance that we remain forever grateful for the sun under which it grows, our Father, Charles Xavier. For though he could not be here to celebrate with you, remember that he is always with you."

The crowd throws up their arms and collectively crosses them into an X over their heads.

"And so it is with that in mind that President Summers and I extend to you all our deepest wishes for a happy new year, in a happy new world." The screen goes back to insane techno music and lighting as the mutants explode in celebration. Two young human girls are carrying a pitcher of drinks and bump into a large mutant named The Giant. The Giant turns around and kicks both of them with one foot, sending them flying several feet. He then stammers over to them and holds his foot over their heads as if he's going to crush them like bugs.

"Say friend, you don't want to get blood all over those new boots do you," a voice calls out. The Giant turns around to see Victor Creed, aka Sabretooth behind him chomping on a cigar and handling a bottle of bourbon. "Especially since it's going to be your blood."

The mutants look at Sabretooth with disdain. He is one of the few remaining mutants alive who lost the battle for human rights. The commander of the winning army, Logan aka Wolverine has decreed that Sabretooth not be persecuted out of respect. Not that many would choose to persecute him anyway, out of fear for their own lives. He lives now as a drunk and a wanderer, looking for fights and standing up for the helpless humans when he sees them being abused. The smart mutants do not challenge him. The dumb ones do not get a chance to learn from their mistake.

Sabretooth helps the two humans up and sends them on their way. The Giant looks at Sabretooth with a mix of hatred and fear as he draws closer and closer until Sabretooth is nose to nose with giant, his alcohol fueled breath overwhelming his senses.

"Looking to pick on someone weaker than yourself huh big guy? Good cause so am I."

The Giant reluctantly backs away into the crowd. Sabretooth takes a swig of bourbon and passes through the crowd bumping into mutants as he goes. He passes into an alley and falls down next to a dumpster. The crowd is beginning to count down in the distance. "Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven! Six! Five! Four! Three! Two! One!" At exactly midnight, the dumpster he is resting his head on flies into the air and Sabretooth flops over and hits his head on the ground.

"Who's the dead man?" Sabretooth screams as he looks up into the sky. There awaiting his gaze is Magnus, aka Magneto. He is old and looks physically weak, but his powers are as strong as ever.

"You're the one who looks dead Victor," calls out Magneto.

"Mangus? What are you doing here?" asks Sabretooth, rubbing his head.

Magneto lowers himself to the ground as Sabretooth gets up and the two stand face to face shaking hands.

"I need your help,".

"I hope it's with killing a bottle of Jack," jokes Sabretooth as he picks up the bottle of bourbon with barely a sip left, which sucks down immediately.

"I'm afraid not,"

"Well I guess Jim Beam will do but I'm not happy about it."

"I need you to help me free the Humans, immediately."

Sabretooth laughs boisterously as he rummages the ground full of empty liquor bottles, looking for one with some booze still inside. "Well old buddy, I'd love to help if it were possible. But unfortunately it isn't. You sealed the fates of every human being on the planet when you compromised with Xavier, remember?"

"It was the only way I could keep them alive Victor, you know that. Xavier was going to kill them all, or don't you remember that?"

"Alive?!" screams Sabretooth as he points at two humans stumbling down the alley in their zombie slave like state. "You call that alive? Under Xavier's mind control. Living in a sick dream state. Bouncing off walls until they find another mutant they can serve. You and I have a very different definition of the word alive. I think they'd rather be dead."

"I know how upset you are about Barbara…" begins Magneto until Sabretooth cuts him off.

"If you ever mention her name again I'll be picking you outta my teeth like yesterday's lamb chops."

Magneto looks at Sabretooth with somber seriousness. "If we don't free them now, they are all going to die. Barbara included"

"What makes you say that?" scoffs Sabretooth as he spits out rain water from a Vodka bottle.

"Because," replies Magneto, "Charles Xavier is dying."

**New York City, New Years Day, 2017**

The World Conference of Mutant Leaders is held annually on New Years Day. It commemorates the anniversary of the forming of the World League of Mutant Leaders and is an extremely opulent affair that is unofficially closed to the public. Attendees mingle nervously along the grand ballroom eating caviar, sipping drinks, and trading favors. The President of The United States and Canada, Scott Summers aka Cyclops, is by far the most important man in the room.. He has a direct line to Beast, which means he has a direct line to Xavier. As everyone moves their way around the room, he is the ultimate destination. At present he is speaking with Storm, the head of the African Union A human brings her a wrong drink order and she summarily drops the drink, and kicks the human to the ground to grovel on the broken glass. The European leaders squabble amongst themselves at the bar. Colossus: the Premiere of Eastern Europe, Nightcrawler; Prime Minister of Western Europe, and Banshee of the United Kingdom barter information and take digs at each other over drinks and lines of Mirophane, the high-end street drug that enhances Mutants' powers.

Into this scene enters the Joint Commanders of the Global Mutant Army. Wolverine and Rogue are two of the most respected Mutants on the planet, but Wolverine has become something of a tragic figure as of late. Overcome with depression at having no more battles to fight, he has taken to drinking highly concentrated quantities of liquid Mirophane, which has the opposite effect of weakening a Mutant's powers. After living and fighting for some two-hundred years, it seems that he is very publicly trying to cure himself of immortality. He is a mere figurehead now, as Rogue maintains the responsibility of running the Mutant army behind the scenes. Wolverine falls over himself and Rogue moves quickly to pick him up off the ground.

"What a disgrace," Cyclops whispers to Storm as he heads over to greet the Generals. "Welcome Generals! Logan, Rogue, it's great to see you!"

Wolverine ignores Cyclops and walks over to a chair in the corner where he plops down and takes a shot of Mirophane.

"How are you Rogue?" asks Cyclops

"Trying to keep busy, Sug. Not much to do these days except breaking up fights. Spend most my weekends human huntin outside of Shreveport. I guess that's a good thing. Can I ask you about the rumors I've been hearing about… " She looks uncharacteristically worried.

"Let me stop you there Rogue. All I've been told is that Beast is going to address everyone's concerns during the official conference tomorrow. Let's just enjoy ourselves tonight. Like you said, there's not much to worry about these days."

As Cyclops walks away, Rogue's eyes blink from normal, to full yellow, and then back to normal again. "Nothing at all, Sug."

**The Official WCML Meeting, January 2.**

The most powerful and feared Mutants in the world sit around a table on a private floor in an undisclosed New York highrise. Any Mutant with any sway over global policies is in this room. Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine, Rogue, Archangel, Banshee, Nightcrawler, Colossus, and Sunfire sit arguing as they wait for Beast's video link-up.

Colossus is berating Cyclops and pounding his fist on the table. "I know you've seen Xavier, Cyclops! There is something you're not telling us! If Charles Xavier is sick, the Mutants of Eastern Europe have a right to know!"

"Isn't that just like you Eastern European Mutants," chortles Nightcrawler, " going on and on about what you deserve, and contributing nothing useful in the way of a solution." Colossus turns himself metal.

Cyclops chimes in. "Guys, let's not lose our minds over something we don't know. I haven't seen the Professor, I assure you. As I understand it, the early tests are positive, so let's not lose our heads here."

Wolverine sits looking catatonic next to an animated Storm. "But we have to face the fact that Xavier is not going to be around forever. This situation only demonstrates our over dependence on him. We should be exterminating the humans, and not relying on his mind control to keep them in line!"

"Listen!" Cyclops screams, "whatever happens with Xavier, we have already won. There is no one, human or Mutant that can overthrow this government. There is nothing to worry about."

"Magneto is still alive," chimes in Rogue.

Everyone in the room bursts into laughter. "I think someone wants to beat up an old man!," jokes Banshee.

The screen on the wall adjacent to the table flashes on and Beast appears on the screen. The room falls deathly silent.

"I won't waste any of your time ladies and gentlemen. I respect you all far too much to beat around the perviable bush. Yes, the rumors are true. Charles Xavier has brain cancer."

**NEXT CHAPTER: THE PHOENIX PROBLEM**


	2. Chapter 2: The Phoenix Problem

**AGE OF XAVIER**

**CHAPTER 2: THE PHOENIX PROBLEM**

**Ilha dos Esquecidos, New Years Day, 2017**

Somewhere between the southern tip of South America and the northern reaches of the Arctic Ocean sits a small island known as Ilha dos Esquecidos. Isolated from the rest of Mutantkind, the island acts as a prison for those Mutants that have been disruptive to society. The mentally unstable, the disloyal, and the psychopathically violent are held here with collars around their necks to govern their powers, a technology invented by the humans. They are left to roam free around the island, and have built amongst themselves societies in which to function and keep sane.

A supersonic jet bursts through the horizon before it halts and hovers over one of the northeastern beaches. The black jet emanates a harsh sonic vibration that tears up the sandy beach and assures that all Mutants will be clear of the area before it lands. Two guards step out of the hatch holding electronic pads.

"MPIA log 0114. January the first, 2017. Recording the transfer of Mutant Offender 0092, Toad, aka Mortimer Toynbee. Indecent behavior, behavior detrimental to Mutant society, destruction of property. Final warning was issued and ignored. Life sentence."

Toad steps off the jet in shackles. The guards lead him to a spot near the water's edge and place the power impeding collar around his neck. The guard presses a button his his electronic pad and the collar flickers on. The cuffs and shackles are removed. One of the guards puts the electronic pad an inch from Toad's face, reflecting his image back to him.

"Would you like to make a final statement for the public record?"

"Yea," replies Toad, "kiss my bullocks."

The guards close the file and walk back onto the supersonic jet. As their backs are turned Toad unrolls his tongue down to his waste. He reaches underneath it and grabs a small computer chip. He places it in the back of his collar, and it turns off. The ground begins to shake, Toad leaps nearly thirty feet to a nearby tree before the vibrations from the jet cause him to disintegrate. Hanging from a tall branch he watches the jet disappear back into the horizon before he climbs back down. He heads immediately into the North jungle, the most dangerous part of the island for new arrivals. This part of the island is inhabited exclusively by lifers. Those with no hope of ever leaving no matter how good their behavior, and they act accordingly. Mutant life has little if any value here.

As he moves through the brush, he spots booby traps and avoids them by hopping along tree trunks. About a half mile in, he reaches a makeshift wall with a giant "S" painted in red. At least it looks like paint. Toad looks around for a moment before he squats down and springs himself over the wall. Upon landing on the other side, he is quickly met with a hard kick to the face which sends him to the ground. He groans in pain for a moment and tries to stir himself from the ground. He turns his head and holds his broken jaw as he stares at a hulking Mutant with a flashing collar around his neck. The tiny Toad drags himself off the ground and is eclipsed by the huge Mutant before him.

"Nice kick mate," mumbles Toad through his broken jaw. "Cheers."

Toad spits a wad of poison in the Mutants face and then leaps just above his head before kicking him with both legs at the top of his skull. The Mutant's head is sent to the ground like a comet crashing to Earth, his body following until his legs stick in the air. His skull has been collapsed and his neck severely separated as he lay dead.

Several mutants come out of background and look on in awe. They have not seen a Mutant's powers work since they have been here. Toad begins feeling uneasy as the number of Mutants now surrounding him grows massive. He surveils the crowd and considers leaping away when an arrow suddenly hits him in the ribs, and he falls down unconscious.

**WCML Meeting. New York City**

The most powerful Mutants in the world sit around an oak table, pounding their fists and deciding the fate of millions. Beast has just confirmed all of their worst fears. Professor Charles Xavier, the living god and eternal leader of all Mutantkind, the great enslaver of humankind, the only father this new world has ever known is terminally ill. The rumors have swirled for weeks, but haven't been confirmed until this moment. Even among his trusted X-Men, Xavier is such a vidal fabric of everyday Mutant life, none can be allowed near him. Only Beast who acts as his doctor and Cerebro's technician is privileged enough to be in his physical presence.

"Now is not the time for infighting brother and sisters," Beast's calm voice cuts through the chaos of the room, "Now is the time to begin rationally discussing the very serious eventualities that we have chosen to put off up to this point."

Nightcrawler turns to the screen. "In regards to the economic ramifications should we have to resume a war with the humans, I believe that Western Europe should be awarded the defense contracts, seeing as…"

"You're a heartless bastard Nightcrawler," interrupts Cyclops. "How is he Beast? Can we see him?"

"When he is able to communicate telepathically with you he will initiate contact. For now he is in an intensely focused state in Cerebro, it would be pointless to try and speak with him. As for all of your concerns regarding the humans, we are no longer bound by any meaningful treaties. On the unfortunate day that Xavier passes on, the minds under his psychic control will simply cease to function. The humans will be of no consequence I assure you, the real concern is…"

"Labor," interrupts Archangel, "should we really allow all the humans to die? I don't think the prospect of Mutants serving other Mutants is going to go over too well with the masses. We don't need Xavier's mind control to enslave humankind."

"Leave it to the wealthiest Mutant in the world to start thinking about labor costs," mutters Colossos. "My question is how do we keep the rest of Mutant-kind in line without the Professor? Who knows what kind conflicts will arise once they no longer have him to fear and worship. This government body could come under attack."

Beast and Cyclops look at each other somberly as the X-Men continue to shout over each other and throw around doomsday scenarios and accusations. Rogue watches in disbelief as Wolverine's head hits the table as he passes out. He has drunk more Mirophane in one morning than most Mutants will ingest in a lifetime. Even a drop on the tongue of this elixir would kill most Mutants instantly. Wolverine is on his second pint, and it isn't even noon yet. The argument reaches a fever pitch when Beast lets out a blood curdling roar that makes even Banshee cover his ears.

"Enough!" The X-Men fall silent all at once. They have never heard Beast raise his voice to them in this way. He takes a moment to compose himself.

"These are trivial matters ladies and gentlemen. These are problems easily solved. They are like a child's grade school assignment to a superior mind such as mine. Stop wasting your breath and your fear. I'm talking about a problem that most unfortunately for all of us, I cannot solve. It is a problem Professor Xavier himself has never been able to solve. I'm talking about…"

Cyclops drops his head into his hands. "The Phoenix Problem."

Wolverine's head slowly lifts off the table and he looks up at Cyclops with bloodshot eyes. Rogue can barely make out the words. "The Phoenix?"

"Jean was destroyed, Summers." Wolverine has just spoken for the first time in weeks. He begins to pull himself up on his chair. "What Phoenix Problem?"

Cyclops rests his finger on the rim of his sunglasses."Are you a child Logan? Or are you just a very, very old man? All of you. I swear sometimes it feels like I'm listening to children fighting over a sandbox in the middle of the desert." The X-Men sit in stunned silence.

"From the moment the humans surrendered, you have been so consumed with claiming your reward, your slice of Earth, you actually believed that the Phoenix was destroyed. You believed that Xavier would give up his greatest would make you think that, other than childlike naivety? Why should any of you be trusted with information you can't handle?"

"All right Cyclops," sneers Storm. "What exactly is The Phoenix Problem?"

**Ilha dos Esquecidos**

Toad slowly and painfully wakes up in a chair to which he's been tied. His vision is blurry and his head is ringing. There is a terrible throbbing pain in his side. In his hazy state, he hears a familiar voice.

"Good morning sunshine."

Toad tries to make out the figure sitting in front of him but can't. It doesn't matter he knows who it is. It's the Mutant he was sent here to find. He tries to respond, but is still too woozy, and his jaw is badly broken.

"It's been a long time Toad," the voice continues. "Wish I could say you looked good, but you've seen better days. You must feel like hell. The arrow that got ya was dipped in the venom of the South American Blue Toad. I'm willing to bet the irony aint lost on ya."

Toad finally regains his vision and makes out his captor, Karl Lykos. He is covered in war paint and wearing nothing but a purple loin cloth, sitting on throne of rotting would surrounded by dozens of guards and concubines.

"Hello Karl."

"So you finally got sentenced to Esquecidos. But somehow your powers work, and you come straight to my camp. So you working for the other side now? You here to kill me?"

"Maybe we ought to talk in private mate," Toad mumbles through his broken jaw.

"Anything you got to say to me, you can say in front of my Children."

Toad rolls his swollen eyeballs. "Glad to see you're still batshit crazy. You're gonna need to be."

"You better stop being so damn mysterious and start answering my questions, or the way you feel now is gonna seem like a picnic."

"I really think we ought to talk in private. But however you like it. I can't tell you who sent me here, but I'm sure you know. I need to get you off this island, we need your help."

"I aint goin nowhere. I've built my own paradise here. Turned lemons into lemonade. I live like a god here, not a soldier. These men and women are loyal and devoted to me. I couldn't leave them. They would fall apart without their Father. Especially the women. Tell Magneto I told him where to stick it."

Toad looks around at Karl's "family". His tongue uncurls out of his mouth, reaches behind his neck and pulls the chip out of his collar. He drops it on the ground before his tongue is ripped back into his mouth, the collar now functional again.

"That chip deactivates the anti-Mutate collars. Anyone who puts it on will regain all their mutant powers."

Karl's "Family" look around at each other, and then at him. One of his female concubines suddenly punches him in the throat and leaps for the chip. The room descends into chaos as all the Mutants throw each other around and wrestle around on the floor to get to the chip. Karl gathers himself holding onto his throat. Another one of his Children kick him in the face as the mad scramble for the chip continues. The chip is fumbled around as arms are bitten and groins are kicked. Karl pulls himself off the ground and does a suicide dive into the fight pit. He kicks and fights his way to the bottom with no regard for his own well being. He comes up with the chip and quickly places it on the back of his collar.

Karl Lykos' powers are now fully functional. He grabs the first two of his Children he can grab and puts them in a double front face lock, beginning to absorb their energy. When he has absorbed enough his body begins to morph. First his skin turns a bright shade of green, and then his head seems to elongate. He bends over in pain as two massive winge rip through his back shoulder muscles. He grows double his own size. He finally has made a full transformation from Karl Lykos, to the giant and powerful, half-man half pterodactyl Sauron.

Once he has absorbed enough energy to fully become Sauron he bursts through the ceiling of his makeshift castle and soars into the sky, screeching with elation. He then flies back down into his fortress and grabs Toad by the bottom legs of the chair he is tied to. Anyone outside on Ilha dos Esquecidos at this moment will surely remember the strange site of Sauron flying away into the sunset with Toad dangling beneath him upside down.

**WCML Meeting, New York City**

The World Conference of Mutant Leaders has concluded. The X-Men mill around the entrance of the Waldorf-Astoria hotel, shaking hands and saying their goodbyes as they shuffle into their limousines. Rogue hugs Storm after having helped a passed out Wolverine into his limo.

"Talk to you soon, Sug."

"Stay strong Rogue, We are doing the right thing,"

Storm's limo pulls up and takes her away. Rogue walks up Park Avenue and makes her way into Central Park. She goes to a secluded area underneath small bridge. When she is finally alone her eyes turn yellow and her skin begins to scale up and become blue until she has fully transformed into Mystique. She breathes a sigh of relief and cracks the tension out of her neck before she pulls a small but powerful transmitter out of a loose brick in the bridge.

"Magnus, we need to speak immediately. The situation is far worse than we anticipated and we need to talk face to face. Meet me at rendezvous D and I'll explain, Raven."

She destroys the transmitter and turns back into Rogue before walking out from under the bridge as the sun sets behind her.

**NEXT CHAPTER: BROTHERHOOD**


	3. Chapter 3: Brotherhood

**AGE OF XAVIER**

**CHAPTER 3: BROTHERHOOD**

**San Francisco, California, January 5th.**

It is a lively night on Pier 39. Lights twinkle off the buildings and cut through the dense fog, reflecting in the Bay like a second night sky. Sea lions bark and yelp in the distance as Mutants shuffle about eating cotton candy and salt water taffy. The humans serve and the Mutants enjoy the cool night air. The Pier is also littered with down on their luck Mutants, begging for change to get just a few drops of Mirophane. One in particular looks strangely out of place. He is small and weak looking. A cup sits in front of him as he keeps his hands in the pockets of his oversized hoodie, which only makes him look all the smaller. Of all the pathetic Mutants on the Pier, he looks by far the most helpless.

A group of three young male Mutants and their girlfriends stumble by as the homeless man keeps his head down, trying not to be noticed. One of the drunken Mutants, Bone, stops for a moment and walks back to the homeless man. The homeless man looks up meekly before pulling the hoodie over his head.

"Hey you. What's yer name bro?"

The homeless mutant does not respond.

"I axed you a question street trash. What's your name?"

The other Mutants around Bone try to get him to move on but he is unrelenting.

"I seen you out here almost every night, and I aint never seen your Mutant power. What do you do?"

The homeless man still does not respond, and now draws the interest of the other Mutants in the group. They stand over him in a threatening manner.

"You ignoring me old man? I asked you what your power was. You better say something."

"Just leave me alone," the poor old man replies.

"Now you're starting to piss me off. If you aint gonna tell me what yer power is, I 'll make you show me.

Bone's skin turns from human looking flesh into a hard outer shell of bone. He open hand slaps the homeless man in face, knocking his head back and sending him to the ground. The old man holds his face in pain but does nothing. The group of Mutants looks irate now.

"I'm gonna kill you if you don't show me yer Mutant power boy. So if you got one, now'd be the time. I know you can't be human. So what's your god dam power?

The homeless man does not respond. The Mutants look at each other and begin to beat on him mercilessly. The males and females swarm him and kick him in the ribs, skull, and face. The old homeless man begins to cry as he is helplessly pummeled. Bone feels a tap on his shoulder and delivers a few more shots before turning around.

Behind him tower Sabretooth and Sauron. Sabretooth is wearing a huge backpack and they both have helmets on their heads. The drunken Mutants stare at the pair in a state of disbelief.

"I highly recommend that you all walk away right now, unless you wanna wear your nuts as ear rings.," snears Sabretooth.

"We wanna know what's up with this dude," replies Bone. "He's acting like a goddamn human."

""He is a human," answers Sauron. "So am I, technically. You wanna pick on me too?"

"What the hell is goin on here? I thought you was exiled," Bones yells.

Sauron spreads his massive wings as his eyes and mouth begin to glow an eerie pinkish color. Sabretooth releases his claws and crouches into an attack position. The drunken Mutants scramble and run away. One of them jumps into the Bay, turns into a shark and swims away.

Sabretooth walks up to the homeless man and picks him up off the ground. The homeless man is badly injured and Sabretooth carries him off like a baby. They walk down to the edge of the water, covered in darkness. Sauron pulls out some smelling salts and wakes up the homeless man.

The old homeless man comes out of it and sees the two imposing figures standing over him.

"Victor? Karl? Is that you?"

"Glad to see you aint lost your memory Cain."

"What are you doing here?" wheezes Cain Marko.

"We need you Cain." replies Sabertooth. "We need your help."

"With what?"

A voice whispers from behind Cain. "To save the world."

Magneto steps out from behind a large stone.

"Magnus?" Cain barely makes out while holding onto his ribs.

"We need you Cain. We need the Juggernaut."

Cain spits out some blood and tries to drag himself off the ground. He falters and falls back down on the rocks coughing and breathing heavily. "I don't know what this is about. But I'm not in any position to help anyone. Least of all myself. Charles left me alive to suffer. I would've killed myself a long time ago, but I'm too much of a coward. There is no Juggernaut, not anymore."

"Yes there is," scoffs Magneto. "I'm looking right at him. You are the only human left on the planet not under Xavier's mind control. We can't win the war that's coming, not without you. You're a game changer. Letting you live might be one of Xavier's greatest mistakes."

"I appreciate the vote of confidence, but you sound like a desperate old madman. The Ruby of Cyttorak was destroyed. There is no Juggernaut, and if you need him to save the world, than the world is screwed. And not a moment too soon if you ask me. I'm not interested"

Sabertooth, Sauron, and Magneto all look at each other. Sabertooth scratches his head, "That's too bad. Now I don't know what I'm gonna do with this."

Sabertooth pulls the backpack off his shoulder and reaches into one of the pockets, pulling out the Ruby of Cyttorak. Cain's eyes go wild as he looks a the brilliantly radiant ruby. "How did…"

Magneto takes the Ruby from Sabertooth. "Does that really matter?"

"Charles will know." Cain barely makes out with a combination of excitement and fear.

"Not necessarily," replies Magneto. "Victor?"

Sabertooth opens his backpack and pulls out a giant ball of bronze and copper. Magneto holds his hand to the ball and crumples it into the Magneto suit, with the helmet hovering just above.

"Well?" asks Sauron.

Cain Marko snatches the Ruby out of Magneto's hand. He screams in agonizing pain as his body grows to four times its normal size, bones and ligaments tear and expand, his skin stretches and his organs bulge. He kneels on the ground and pounds his fist into the rocks as the transformation takes place. As he becomes the Juggernaut the rocks beneath him begin to shatter underneath his giant fists. When he has fully transformed he stands up and puts the helmet on. He then sheds the rest of his ratty clothes and stretches out his gigantic naked body, as Magneto wraps the Juggernaut suit around him.

"How do you feel now?" asks Magneto with a smile on his face.

"How do I feel? Excuse me for a second."

Juggernaut stomps up the rocks toward the pier until his comrades can no longer see him from the water's edge.

Sabertooth looks up with a smile on his face and turns to Magneto. "This might be one red flag too many."

"Fuck it," replies Magneto. "He needs this. It's too late anyway."

Up on the Pier, Juggernaut emerges and walks past the other homeless Mutants. He lumbers up to the group of Mutants that were assaulting him before. He taps Bone on the shoulder. Bone turns around and stares into Juggernaut's chest. He looks up and before he can respond. Juggernaut lowers his head and drives through his body until his midsection is all but completely shattered. One of the other Mutants begins to run away at breakneck speed, Juggernaut chases him down and smashes his massive fist into the Mutant's skull, breaking his neck. A Mutant sends powerful concussive blasts out of his hands which simply bounce off Juggernaut and into the surrounding bystanders. Two flying mutants try to attack him from above and he summarily slams his fits into their heads, splattering them on impact. The Juggernaut continues to storm along the Piers and tear through the Mutants that have tormented him until Pier 39 has been painted in rivers of red blood and mounds of bone and brain matter grey.

**New Orleans, Louisiana, January 6th**

Wolverine lays on his back, churning on the third floor of Preservation Hall. He coughs and unsuccessfully tries to suppress his vomit, spitting up into a cup next to him. Several members of the Imperial Mutant Guard look upon him in disappointment, as they have for many months. The sound of large footsteps begin to echo from the main hall..

Beast makes his way up the staircase and onto the third floor as guards look on in amazement. He has not left Xavier's mansion in years. No one dares question it, they simply look on in awe. Beast enters the room in which Wolverine is lying and sits down on a bench. Wolverine turns his head and says nothing. He looks barely conscious.

"Hello Logan. Can we talk, or do you need to throw up some more?"

Wolverine stares at him unresponsive.

"I am painfully aware of your current, and may I say, unfortunate mindframe. I can't say that I blame you. Truth be told, I understand the emptiness that can result from a loss of purpose. Coupled with our current predicament, I can surely understand your apathetic attitude."

Wolverine leans over and coughs a large amount of flem into a cup as everyone but Beast looks away. As Wolverine eases his tired body back Beast maintains eye contact.

"I just thought that perhaps it would interest you to know that we have had a series of interesting developments in the past few days. Namely that most recently there has been sightings of Juggernaut, Sauron, Toad, and Magneto. In almost every case, Sabertooth has been involved."

Wolverine's eyes instantly change into state that hasn't been seen in years. In a matter of seconds he looks almost sober. Beast leans forward looking on inquisitively. Wolverine sits up and his eyes dart around the room looking as if his mind is catching up after years of inactivity.

"Where's Rogue?" Wolverine asks.

Beast looks at the surrounding guards with fascination. They shake their heads not knowing. "I don't know. Why?"

Wolverine attempts to make his way off the ground, but collapses. Beast tries to help him up, met with three adamantium claws inches from his throat. Wolverine coughs uncontrollably as he can only make out one word. "Mystique."

**Ilha dos Esquecidos January 6th**

Two guards march down a dim underground hallway. They reach a door and open it with their fingerprints. On the other side of the door is Mystique in a state of frozen slumber. One of the guards cautiously pulls a switch next to her. She slowly begins to stir as if being awoken from a deep sleep. She looks at the two guards for a second, and begins screaming uncontrollably. She breaks both of her hand shackles and almost breaks out her leg braces when she is hit with a powerful tranquilizer. The structure behind her has been almost broken in half. She seems to be unconscious again.

The two guards carefully approach her, one of them pulling a sponge out of a bucket. He wipes her face, and the blue on her face begins to come off. After wiping her face for a few seconds they can clearly see that this is not Mystique, it is Rogue that they've been holding captive for almost a year.

**Rendezvous D, Undiscloded Location, January 9th**

The Brotherhood Rebellion sits in folding chairs in a secret location. Magneto stands by a steel door as Sabretooth, Juggernaut, White Queen, Sauron, Toad, and Pyro wait. A loud knock raps on the door. Magneto tears over a piece of the door like tin foil and peaks through the other side. He tears the door from its hinges and lets Mystique step in. The group sits at full attention.

Mystique makes her way to the center of the room.

"I have good news and bad news brothers and sister. The good news is that I believe we can win this war. The bad news is that in order to win, we will almost certainly all die."

**Next Chapter: The Phoenix Problem pt 2 - War Cry **


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